Fall SEASON 2025 recap
Lawrence, KS – The Gophers played their final game of the season against Arkansas this weekend, with many players again stepping up to fill injured roles. The game ended in a big 19-5 win for the Gophers, with tries scored by Tristan Malletroit, Sam Dodd, and Marcus Lorenzen, with conversions taken by Tristan Malletroit. With this win the Gophers end conference 15s play with a 3-3 record, with the losses all coming against top 10 programs according to a coaches poll. The Gophers themselves were ranked 11th in D1AA according to this same coaches poll, ending the season 4-3 (including out-of-conference play).
Off the field, our Gophers helped set up the dome last month as we transition into winter training to keep improving. The Gophers also have their largest fundraising event of the year coming up this Thursday, November 20th. Give to the Max is the day where all supporters of Gopher rugby have the chance to donate to the team and help pay for new equipment and travel costs for the spring 7s season. If you would like to help support the team, please follow this link: https://crowdfund.umn.edu/participants/Gopher-Mens-Rugby-GTMD. Thank you again for your support this season!
We’d like to thank all of our seniors that made this 15s season great! ~ Andrew Byrnes (Prop), Ben Wehling (Lock), Carter Roth (Center), Dominic Lelemsis (Winger), Eoin McVey (Prop), Jack Poston (Scrumhalf), Ryan Horejsi (Flanker), Sam Dodd (Flyhalf), Tenzin Gyaldatsang (Prop), Tristan Malletroit (Fullback), and Weston Loughmiller (Prop)
Gophers beat Nebraska in season opener
Minneapolis, MN – The Gophers played their HOA conference opener on the road against Nebraska this weekend, and started the season off hot with a big 67-31 win. Tries scorers included Jack Hardt, Sam Dodd, Carter Roth (x2), Ryan Horejsi, Eoin McVey, Santiago Serrano, Tristan Malletoit, Jack Poston, Marcus Lorenzen, and Declan Rusk. Conversions were all attempted by Tristan Malletoit. Man of the Match was awarded to 8-man Sidney Kingbird-Haugen, who had many dominant carries on offense and excellent tackles on defense.
While the Gophers were dominant on both offense and defense, they learned many lessons and look forward to keep improving over the next few weeks. They prepare to face Iowa as their home opener and next conference game this upcoming Saturday, September 27th. Kickoff will be at 1:00pm for Maroon side, with Gold side following shortly after the conclusion of that game.
Gopher Rugby Welcome Week Update
Minneapolis, MN – While university has only been in session for a week, the University of Minnesota Men's Rugby team has already had an action packed couple of weeks getting ready for an exciting 2025 fall season. Between training camps, fundraising, recruiting, and much more, the Gophers have spent a great deal of time kicking this season off to a big start.
On the recruiting side, social media recruiting efforts this past year led to many local midwest players joining the club. Ten Gophers attended two major welcome week club events, led by recruiting officer Josh Nacker. During these events alone, the Gophers recorded over 50 new recruiting contacts that are already making an impact on the team.
On the fundraising side, the Gophers continued their tradition of cleaning barns for the Minnesota State Fair. During two total cleaning days with 28 combined volunteers, the team raised over $6000 towards new gear and travel. Fundraising officer Declan Rusk also has scheduled other fundraising efforts such as “Do Good with Chipotle” to help the team.
On the practice side, the team has been putting in a lot of effort to keep the momentum from the spring going. Between summer practices, joining local men's rugby clubs, and other conditioning, the Gophers came to this year's mini camp ready to put in the work! In addition to the preseason mini camp and resuming weekly practices, the Gophers also had an exciting practice/scrimmage opportunity with the Eau Claire Blugolds. This is thanks to a lot of work behind the scenes from Gophers head coach Paul O’Brien and the Blugolds head coach Andrew Boucher. Both teams learned many valuable skills from this session and the Gophers are ready to continue the improvement while they gear up for their first conference game at Nebraska.